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Authors Posts by Melissa Dehoff

Melissa Dehoff

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Melissa Dehoff is responsible for all medical rehabilitation and brain injury service issues. Ms. Dehoff attends multiple state-level meetings to advocate on behalf of members on brain injury and rehabilitation issues and is a member of the Department of Health Traumatic Brain Injury Advisory Board.

The agenda for the November 2, 2022, Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee has been released. Included on the bottom of the agenda is a link to register to participate in the meeting, as well as a link to connect to the livestream of the meeting. The meeting is scheduled for 10:00 am – 1:00 pm and will be conducted in person (PA Department of Education Honors Suite, 1st floor, at 333 Market St. in Harrisburg). Participants can also join via webinar.

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

The Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) Advisory Board, established under section 1252 of the Federal Traumatic Brain Injury Act of 1996 (42 U.S.C.A. § 300d-52), will hold a public meeting on November 4, 2022, from 10:00 am to 3:30 pm. The meeting will be held at the Giant Food Store, 3301 Trindle Road, Camp Hill, PA 17011, in the large conference room of the community center, located on the 2nd floor.

Meeting materials will be sent out before the meeting, and the agenda will also be available on the Board’s website and at the meeting location. Questions regarding the meeting should be directed to Nicole Johnson.

The Department of Health’s (DOH) Head Injury Program (HIP) strives to ensure that eligible individuals who have a TBI receive high-quality rehabilitative services aimed at reducing functional limitations and improving quality of life. The TBI Advisory Board assists DOH in understanding and meeting the needs of persons living with TBI and their families. This quarterly meeting will provide updates on a variety of topics, including the number of people served by HIP. In addition, meeting participants will discuss budgetary and programmatic issues, community programs relating to traumatic brain injury, and available advocacy opportunities.

For additional information or for persons with a disability who wish to attend the meeting and require an auxiliary aid, service, or other accommodation to do so, contact Nicole Johnson, Division of Community Systems Development and Outreach, (717) 772-2763. For speech and/or hearing-impaired persons, contact V/TT (717) 783-6514 or the Pennsylvania Hamilton Relay Service at (800) 654-5984.

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The new HEADS UP to Sports Officials: Online Concussion Training was developed through a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO) to share the latest guidance on concussion safety and prevention. The training provides essential information to help sports officials spot possible concussion signs and symptoms that can help keep athletes safe.

Sports officials will learn how to:

  • Recognize the signs and symptoms of concussion;
  • Determine when athletes should be removed from play due to signs and symptoms of concussion; and
  • Promote a culture of concussion safety.

Illustrated case studies in the training help guide sports officials through practical scenarios they can use in their on-field activities.

Additionally, there are other CDC HEADS UP resources for concussion safety:

The Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL) has been sending reminders to personal care homes, assisted living facilities, and skilled nursing facilities regarding the benefits of Long-Term Care Resiliency Infrastructure Supports & Empowerment (LTC-RISE). Please see the latest reminder below:

Over the last several months, the LTC-RISE partners have been reaching out to skilled nursing facilities, personal care homes, and assisted living facilities with various quality improvement projects funded by their partnership with the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). By completing a needs assessment with you at your facility, the LTC-RISE partner can work with you to identify and support areas of improvement that will strengthen your facility’s ability to respond to any future health crisis at no financial cost to you. Some of the areas they can assist with include infection prevention and control, emergency preparedness, facilitating staffing contracts, use of health technology, and more! Please see the letter for additional information on this initiative for personal care homes and assisted living facilities, as well as skilled nursing facilities.

Many of you have already taken advantage of the opportunity to participate in any or all of these programs, but for those of you who have not, I encourage you to reach out directly to your local LTC-RISE partner to find out about how to enroll and be included in this and future opportunities that may become available.  

Please go to the DOH LTC-RISE website to read more about this opportunity, see which region serves your facility based on county, and see contact information to find out more about enrolling with our LTC-Rise partners.

On October 7, 2022, the Office of Long-Term Living (OLTL)/Financial Management Services (FMS) conducted a stakeholder meeting. During the meeting, a PowerPoint presentation was reviewed. Going forward, these stakeholder meetings will take place on a quarterly basis. There will also be an FMS Advisory Group established. A link to the application to be considered for this group is included in the PowerPoint presentation (slide 23). They are still accepting applications if anyone is interested in this opportunity.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a Request for Information (RFI) that seeks public input on the concept of establishing a National Directory of Healthcare Providers and Services (NDH) that could serve as a centralized data hub for health care provider, facility, and entity directory information nationwide. The goal of this directory is to improve access to care, reduce clinician burden, and support interoperability throughout the health care sector.

CMS is seeking comment on how a CMS-led directory could reduce directory maintenance burden on providers and payers by creating a single, centralized system, promoting real-time accuracy for patients.

Feedback obtained in response to the RFI will aid CMS’ understanding of the current landscape of health care directories, as well as information useful to CMS when considering an NDH. CMS is specifically requesting public feedback on the NDH concept and potential benefits, provider types, entities and data elements that could be included to create value for the health care  industry, the technical framework for an NDH, priorities for a possible phased implementation, and prerequisites and actions CMS should consider taking to address potential challenges and risks.

The RFI will be published in the Federal Register on October 7, 2022. Comments on the RFI will be accepted through December 6, 2022.

The next Managed Long-Term Services and Supports (MLTSS) Subcommittee meeting is coming up on November 2, 2022. The meeting will take place from 10:00 am – 1:00 pm at the PA Department of Education Building’s Honors Suite, 1st floor, at 333 Market St. in Harrisburg. Participants can also join via webinar.

To participate in the meeting via webinar, please register here. When registering, please verify that you entered your email address correctly. You will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar if you registered correctly. If you have trouble accessing the webinar registration through Internet Explorer or Safari web browsers, please try accessing it through a different web browser such as Chrome or Edge.

Dial In Number: (415) 655-0060
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